Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and 39 Democratic Senate colleagues, today asked President Trump to use his executive authority to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provides deportation relief to students who arrived in the United States as children if they register with the government, pay a fee, and pass criminal and national-security background checks. The Attorneys General of ten states have threatened to sue President Trump if he does not revoke the memorandum that created DACA and announce that his administration will not renew or issue any DACA permits.
"DACA has provided relief to thousands of young people in Colorado, allowing them to focus on working hard in school and preparing for their futures," Bennet said. "These are individuals who arrived here as children and know no other home than the United States. Through DACA, they have a degree of security and opportunity that they would not have otherwise. Rescinding this program would needlessly disrupt the lives of many Coloradans and our communities."
An estimated 17,258 Coloradans have received DACA status and are contributing to communities across the state as students, employees, and business owners. Over 15,000 DACA recipients are currently working in Colorado; removing them would impose a significant economic cost. A recent study estimates that Colorado stands to lose $850,000,000 in GDP annually from the loss of DACA workers in the state's economy.
Bennet has long-supported efforts to fix our flawed immigration system and extend deportation relief to individuals who were brought to this country as children. He was a cosponsor of the 2010 DREAM Act, which would have offered a path to citizenship for individuals who were brought to this country as children. He also filed a Congressional amicus brief to the Supreme Court in 2016 in support of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and DACA+. Bennet was a member of the Gang of Eight, a group of bipartisan senators that drafted and secured passage of comprehensive immigration reform in 2013.
Along with Bennet, Schumer, and Durbin, the letter was signed by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murry (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Tom Carper (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Gary Peters (D-MI).
Click HERE for full text of the letter.
